Recognized as the founder of optical art, Victor Vasarely is considered one of the most influential and important artists of the 20th century. A visionary in his own right, Vasarely captured the “internal geometry” of the world on canvas through bold, colorful paintings that fool the eye.
Born in Hungary, Vasarely gained popularity throughout Europe in the 1940s and ’50s, and was introduced to the United States in 1965 at an exhibit at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. For the past 10 years, a revival of Vasarely’s work has been under way with the help of the artist’s daughter-in-law, Michèle-Catherine Vasarely, who is also the chairman of the Vasarely Foundation in France.
In line with this goal, the Naples Museum of Art is hosting the first major retrospective of his work, which is on view through April 3, 2005. The museum’s senior editor, James Lilliefors, had the opportunity to interview Michèle-Catherine, and following is an excerpt from the article published in “The Phil Book,” the museum’s program guide.
Michèle-Catherine Vasarely met her future father-in-law in 1976 when she was an art school student in Paris. “At that time, all the boys and girls were crazy about Victor Vasarely,” she recalls. “He was like a rock star — so glamorous.”
Serendipitously, she was invited to a Vasarely opening — only to learn on the day of the event that the artist was ill and that his son would be there in his place.
“I went anyway, and it was a beautiful opening with beautiful art,” she says. “And, as fate would have it, I met my future husband that day.”
Her future husband was Vasarely’s son, Jean-Pierre Yvaral, who introduced Michèle-Catherine to his father. “I remember the first time we met,” she says. “He looked at me and laughed, and we had an immediate connection.”
Q: What was Vasarely like?
A: He was a very generous man. Too generous, sometimes. At the time I met him, I was young and a little flighty, but he made me believe that I could do anything. I am very grateful for all he taught me.
Q: You say he was like a rock star. Did he enjoy his fame?
A: It didn’t affect him. He was so focused on his work, looking for something new, for some connection between the cosmos and the world. Of course, he knew he was famous. He wasn’t blind. But at the same time, it was superficial to him. He was very rich, but he used his money for his art. What mattered to him was the work.
Q: What do you feel were Vasarely’s most important contributions?
A: He created a new language for art. The “Plastic Alphabet” was Victor’s greatest invention. He used color and form to develop this language, which you could rearrange to create different works. It was a system similar to what existed for music and writing, but not for art at that time. He invented op art but he also explored its possibilities. Another important contribution was his belief that art should be for everyone. Before, art was more elitist. He had the vision of mixing art with technology.
Q: What misconceptions do people have about your father-in-law?
A: That he did what he did because he didn’t know how to draw. He was a very good artist, a very good draftsman. You can see that in his early figurative work. He explored different ideas, always looking to bring something new to art. It’s nice to see, in this exhibition, how his style developed, starting with the first drawings in the 1930s. From early on, he’s working with geometric abstraction, with line and vibration, searching for something new.
Q: Why do you think Vasarely’s work has made a comeback?
A: First, because of the quality of the artist and his art, and, second, the meaning of the work and his ideas about art. He was a visionary, and it’s difficult to be a visionary and be fully accepted in your time. Vasarely was a happy person. He believed in himself.
For more information on this or other exhibits at the museum, call 239/597-1111.

The bold, colorful dimensions of “Vega-Lep” compose an optical illusion. Courtesy of Albright-Knox Gallery, U.S.A. Gift of Seymour H. Knox Jr., 1969.

“Keple-Gestalt,” an acrylic on canvas, 1968, captures Vasarely’s mesmerizing illusions of depth and motion.

This earlier work by Vasarely, “Maranon,” shows his use of geometric abstraction to create a striking visual effect.